108 president's addkess. 



ADDRESS TO THE MEMBERS OF THE TYNESIDE 

 NATURALISTS' FIELD CLUB. 



HEAD BY THE PRESIDENT, THE REV. AllTHUE WATTS, P.G.S., E.E.G.S., 

 AT THE POETY-NINTH ANNIVERSARY, HELD IN THE COMMITTEE 

 ROOM OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY ON THURSDAY, APRIL 

 25th, 1895. 



Ladies and Gtentlemen, — It would ill become me to depart from 

 the universal custom of those whom this Society has honoured 

 by electing them its President. They have all done two things 

 which, therefore, I will do, only begging to be allowed to be as 

 brief as possible in the discharge of the first, viz., to express the 

 consciousness of my utter unworthiness of the distinction of 

 being President of this Club. This I would do more at large 

 did I not observe that in many cases those most worthy have 

 most strongly expressed their unworthiness, and measured by 

 that standard I cannot be too brief. Moreovei^ to dwell upon 

 this subject would be to put my personal feeling in opposition 

 to that of you, gentlemen, who have so generously done me this 

 great honour. 



My next duty is to report the Field Meetings during 1894. 

 As the Committee could find no better places than those already 

 visited during the forty-eight years of this Club's existence, and 

 therefore already described, I will try to avoid useless repeti- 

 tion. Gosforth Lake has been visited once before ; Blanchland, 

 twice ; St. Mary's Island, thrice ; Bamburgh four, Chollerford 

 six, and High Force eight times. 



I suppose the nearness of Grosforth explains why it has had 

 only one previous visit. Our visit was paid cu June 1st, and 

 we were eight. Happily the day was fine, but the ravages of 

 the late exceptional frost were abundantly evident, and the 

 Rhododendrons were not yet in flower. So exceptional were 

 these frosts for intensity and continuity that their record de- 

 serves preservation. Thermometric readings in our neighbour- 

 hood were : — May 20th, five degrees of frost; 21st, ten; 22nd, 

 nine ; 23rd, eight ; 24th, four ; and 2oth, one degree of frost. 



